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A national effort to re-green a war-torn landscape is now part of the world's documentary heritage—and a living model for land restoration efforts supported by the UNCCD and embodied in the Changwon Initiative.When Korea emerged from the devastation of war, its mountains stood bare and lifeless. Yet in one of the most remarkable environmental transformations of the 20th century, the country mobilized a generation to bring back its forests—tree by tree, hillside by hillside.In April 2025, UNESCO added the Korea Reforestation Archives to its Memory of the World Register — recognizing them as a vital record of environmental recovery and a source of global inspiration. This milestone comes as countries urgently seek effective solutions to fight desertification and climate change — often with the support of the Changwon Initiative, Korea’s global contribution to land restoration.A story rooted in restoration, governance and communityThe archives document more than 9,600 items chronicling Korea’s ambitious reforestation journey, which began with the First 10-Year National Forest Plan (1973–1978). What made Korea’s approach unique wasn’t only its scale, but its foundation in sound public policy and broad civic participation.Through erosion control, rural engagement and the restoration of degraded land, forest volume surged from 5.6㎥/ha in the 1960s to 165㎥/ha in 2020—making Korea one of the few countries to achieve true national-scale forest recovery.This legacy of bold, coordinated and inclusive land restoration would later serve as the inspiration for the Changwon Initiative, launched in 2011 by the Korea Forest Service and the UNCCD to share Korea’s model with the world.From national success to global support: The Changwon InitiativeThe principles and practices of Korea’s forest recovery are now channeled into the Changwon Initiative, which helps countries design and implement land restoration strategies aligned with the UNCCD’s Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) goals. Through technical assistance, capacity-building and policy alignment, the Initiative has supported restoration efforts in over a dozen countries—helping others plant the seeds of sustainability that once transformed Korea’s barren hills into thriving forests.As former UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw noted:"Korea’s reforestation legacy is not just history—it is a roadmap. It shows what can be achieved when policy, science and local communities come together to heal the land."This roadmap continues to guide the Changwon Initiative’s work—translating Korea’s past experience into present-day solutions for countries facing land degradation, drought and environmental fragility.A model for a crisis-prone eorldIn early 2025, as wildfires once again swept across parts of South Korea, the resilience of restored ecosystems was put to the test. Such events highlight a key lesson: restoration must be ongoing, adaptive and inclusive.The timing of UNESCO’s recognition — just months after UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, where global attention turned to land restoration, resilience and partnerships — underscores the continued relevance of Korea’s experience.A natural ally for the Peace Forest InitiativeThe Korea Reforestation Archives also serve as a guiding resource for the Peace Forest Initiative (PFI), a joint programme by the UNCCD and the Korea Forest Service. Like the Changwon Initiative, PFI builds on Korea’s legacy by promoting cooperation and peacebuilding through shared environmental action in fragile and conflict-affected areas.Korea’s historical experience—restoring not only ecosystems but also national morale and rural economies—offers practical and inspirational support for both initiatives. Whether in divided regions or degraded landscapes, the model forged in Korea proves that land restoration can be a unifying force.Looking aheadAs the world prepares for COP17 in Mongolia in 2026, Korea’s archived journey stands as both a benchmark and a toolkit. The Changwon Initiative ensures that this legacy remains dynamic — no longer confined to history books, but alive in the forests and fields of countries striving for environmental recovery today.Korea’s forest story is now part of the world’s story — and it continues to grow, one restored landscape at a time, wherever countries choose to reclaim their land and their future.

In a world where tensions often flare over shrinking resources, the Peace Forest Initiative (PFI) offers a quiet revolution. Launched by the UNCCD in 2019, the initiative brings together countries — sometimes even former adversaries—to restore degraded land and rebuild trust through nature.This isn’t about top-down diplomacy. It’s about neighbors planting trees side by side, transforming contested borders into corridors of collaboration. The logic is powerful: when land thrives, so do the communities that depend on it. Healthy soil, clean water and green landscapes can help stabilize economies, improve food security and reduce the risk of displacement or violence.From vision to action: The role of the Changwon InitiativeWhile the Peace Forest Initiative officially launched in 2019, its foundation was laid out much earlier — in 2011 — through the Changwon Initiative, a visionary programme led by the UNCCD and the Korea Forest Service (KFS). Between 2018 and 2020, Changwon provided critical start-up support, from technical expertise to catalytic funding, helping translate the PFI concept into action. Since then, the Korea Forest Service has continued to fund and expand the initiative, enabling it to grow its reach and ambition.Restoring land, rebuilding trustAt its core, the Peace Forest Initiative turns contested land into common ground. In regions fractured by conflict, shared reforestation projects are rewriting narratives—replacing suspicion with collaboration. Here, planting a tree isn’t just ecology; it’s diplomacy.In places once marked by mistrust, shared reforestation is opening doors to cooperation — helping communities see one another not as threats, but as partners.This approach is gaining traction. Countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Timor-Leste and several in Central Asia are exploring ways to join the initiative. Their interest sends a powerful message: even in regions touched by instability or division, land restoration can become a tool for healing.Central Asia’s dust storm diplomacyIn March 2024, the Peace Forest Initiative brought together all five Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — for a landmark workshop in Tashkent. The stakes were high: sand and dust storms choke the Ferghana Valley, water scarcity threatens high mountain regions and climate stress is intensifying across borders.But the Tashkent meeting was more than technical — it was political. For the first time, these countries agreed to share transboundary data on environmental risks, a breakthrough after years of mutual caution. They also outlined joint strategies to align their efforts with the Rio Conventions on land, climate and biodiversity, and pledged to prioritize regional cooperation at UNCCD COP16.“This wasn’t just about trees,” said one delegate. “It was about building a common language for peace.” The message was clear: in a region once marked by mistrust, restoring land is becoming a path toward restoring relationships.Greening borders and shaping policyBeyond the local impact, the Peace Forest Initiative is helping shift how global institutions think about land. Land restoration is no longer just about conservation or carbon — it’s increasingly seen as a pathway to peace. As a result, international organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are beginning to integrate land restoration into their peacebuilding agendas.The PFI has also influenced policymaking more broadly. A roadmap has been developed to help other countries design and implement their own peace-driven restoration efforts. And the goals of the initiative are now aligned with key global commitments such as Land Degradation Neutrality and Sustainable Development Goal 16, which promotes peace, justiceand strong institutions.A model for the futureWith strong backing from the Korea Forest Service and the strategic vision provided by the Changwon Initiative, the Peace Forest Initiative is poised to grow. Its next chapter includes expanding into transboundary regions affected by desertification and resource stress, deepening partnerships with local communities to ensure long-term impact and developing new financing models to attract private sector investment.A legacy rooted in hopeIn an era defined by environmental stress and geopolitical uncertainty, the Peace Forest Initiative offers something rare: a solution that is both tangible and transformative. By restoring the land, we restore the conditions for peace. And in that shared soil of effort and purpose, trust can grow.As more countries step forward to take part, the PFI reminds us that peace does not have to be negotiated in conference rooms alone. Sometimes, it begins with the quiet act of planting a tree — together.

International negotiations on land degradation and drought are becoming increasingly complex — and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Yet many of the people expected to speak on behalf of their countries in these spaces often find themselves underprepared.

Media Advisory - 23rd Committee to Review the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC23) to convene in Panama City, 1-5 December 2025

On March 26, 2010, a massive dust storm rose from the exposed bed of the South Aral Sea and swept across southern Kazakhstan. Within hours, skies darkened, visibility collapsed and toxic dust blanketed towns and farmland. The storm carried more than just sand and silt—it spread salt, pesticides and heavy metals, the legacy of decades of environmental mismanagement. It disrupted transport, damaged crops and strained hospitals with respiratory cases—highlighting how land degradation can trigger public health emergencies and economic instability.This wasn’t an isolated event. Over the past two decades, sand and dust storms (SDS) in Kazakhstan have grown more frequent and intense, particularly across the Aral Sea Basin and the country’s southern and central regions. What were once seasonal disturbances are now recognized as chronic climate and land-use threats.Sand and dust storms—vast natural phenomena capable of transporting fine particles across borders and continents—pose grave risks to public health, agriculture, infrastructure and national development. They aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, damage crops and livestock and interrupt transport and trade. In Kazakhstan, these storms are primarily driven by land degradation, unsustainable farming, deforestation and climate change—a combination that continues to erode natural resilience.While SDS play a role in global ecological systems—such as fertilizing distant ecosystems like the Amazon—their local impact in Kazakhstan is urgent and deeply disruptive.The Changwon Initiative: Building resilience from the ground upIn response to the growing SDS threat, Kazakhstan turned to partnerships that combined local action with global expertise. One of the most influential has been the Changwon Initiative, launched under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as a key driver of global dryland restoration efforts.Between 2015 and 2017, the Changwon Initiative—through the Greening Drylands Partnership—helped Kazakhstan lay essential groundwork for SDS preparedness. Though originally aimed at enhancing drought resilience, the project quickly evolved to address overlapping environmental risks. In the Makhtaral and Shardara districts, the initiative strengthened early warning systems, raised awareness among farmers and herders and supported climate risk assessments. Over 140 sustainable land management practices were identified and promoted, including the restoration of 64 hectares of degraded dryland. These measures didn’t just address symptoms—they helped local communities build long-term resilience to future storms.Advancing forecasting and preparednessBuilding on earlier progress, Kazakhstan has significantly expanded its SDS forecasting and preparedness systems. In collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization’s Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS), the country now uses integrated regional and global forecasting models that provide SDS predictions every three hours, with up to 72 hours of lead time.Improved forecasting helps farmers protect crops, health agencies prepare for respiratory surges and officials respond with faster, data-driven decisions. Kazakhstan’s active participation in the SDS-WAS Asia Regional Centre has also enhanced regional cooperation, particularly with China, Mongolia, Japan and Korea, through data exchange and collaborative research.From reactive to proactive: A shift in national strategyPerhaps the most transformative outcome has been the shift in national mindset—from reacting to each storm to anticipating and managing risk. SDS are now integrated into broader climate adaptation and sustainable land use policies and early warnings are reaching more rural communities.Farmers, local officials and frontline workers are increasingly adopting practical mitigation strategies—from planting vegetation that stabilizes soil, to modifying planting schedules based on storm forecasts.The Changwon Initiative’s contribution goes beyond project outcomes: it has helped embed environmental risk reduction into Kazakhstan’s long-term development planning.A Scalable example for the regionKazakhstan’s efforts show what’s possible when scientific forecasting, policy innovation and local action work in concert. While climate change and land degradation continue to fuel SDS across Central Asia, Kazakhstan is charting a course toward resilience. What began with emergency response—like that triggered by the 2010 dust storm—has evolved into a national model for proactive environmental management. With ongoing backing — including from the Changwon Initiative — Kazakhstan’s approach offers a practical, scalable model for other dryland countries. It shows that early warning, land restoration and local engagement are not only feasible but essential to safeguarding lives, livelihoods and development in vulnerable landscapes.

The UNCCD Data Dashboard is the first global tool to monitor land degradation based on information reported by countries.  Its latest update makes it easier to see how countries are responding to the crisis by bringing together, in one platform, the voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets and actions submitted by governments. Until now, this information was scattered across many various reports.With support from the European Commission, the UNCCD secretariat created a system to gather and manage national commitments, including a map showing geospatial data from 2022 reports. The new public update means anyone can now search, filter and download this data to see what countries are doing to stop and reverse land degradation.The Dashboard’s first release showed just how severe the crisis is: every year between 2015 and 2019, the world lost at least 100 million hectares of healthy land — roughly the size of Egypt. But the Dashboard also shows success stories:  Botswana cut land degradation by more than half, while the Dominican Republic restored vast areas of farmland and watersheds.The new section on LDN targets adds to other UNCCD tools such as the Drought Toolbox, which helps countries to design drought policies and resilience strategies, and the Sand and Dust Storms Toolbox, which identifies storm sources, assess risks and design mitigation measures.By providing a clear, accessible overview of global progress, the updated Data Dashboard will support informed decision-making and facilitate more targeted discussions at CRIC 23 in Panama this December and at COP 17 in Mongolia next year, where parties will review implementation, raise ambition and shape the next phase of collective action. It will also strengthen collaboration and foster greater synergies with partners such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.Together, these tools and processes aim to accelerate global efforts toward restoring 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030 — a goal still within reach if countries act swiftly and work together.